I think I see where my problem is. For the most part, I've always believed magical people seek magical solutions while technical people seek technical solutions.

There's nothing wrong with a magical person resorting to a technical solution or vice versa, but it is important to differentiate the two and the motivations behind them. There needs to be a build-up of circumstances leading to that decision. Here's why.

In the magical world, a computer is nothing but an abacus and a laser is nothing but a torch. In the technical world, a wand is nothing but a stick and a staff is nothing but a cane. These are two diametrically opposed conditions each of which takes a lifetime to adapt. A being from a magical realm where faith and will is the general rule (the ideal world) isn't going to go search for a rocket launcher first thing when the nearest elm tree will give him a more potent and effective weapon.

However, I'm not an anime fan. What little I have seen of it, in anime both worlds appear to be fused to the point of where it's difficult to determine one from the other. Yugi's puzzle is tech, while the spirit within is magical. Pokemon balls are tech, but the creatures they keep - even though they are genetically manufactured - are magical.

Even in the D&D world where Dorian comes from, a human/drow hybrid might be that much more inclined to resort to tech rather than nature magic like his elven cousins. Since the A&C stories are present day, I can even see Dorian picking up a modern device if he had access to one because shapeshifting is his only magical ability and might not help him out.

Tora would probably be the best one to elaborate. Tora, what do you think?

Just because I make some comments about what I think should be in a tale doesn't make me an authority on it. If you want to make it into a Castle Wolfenstein with werewolves instead of Nazis - hey, go for it. I'm on the edge of my seat. It's a fun concept and I'm curious as to how it works out. But it's your story and they're taking your lead on it and any commentary I may make about it can be taken with a grain of salt. Or not at all. It's up to you. Marae, Tora, Toz, and Achenar will just have to play along until they get around to checking in again - or get their characters left behind wherever they are if you're uncomfortable with writing for them.

In the meantime, you have Zander and TOOO and I and we're nothing if not flexible. Speedy's also accessible for input, just she can't sign in here from work. If you really don't have an idea then let's huddle and come up with something. If you do have an idea but are afraid of offending others with it, you know what? Screw that. Just keep doing what you do best here and if you need a break, take one and the story will still be here when you come back. This story thrives on the different twists each of us throw into the mix. That's what makes it fun.

Can someone please explain to me when this became my story? This whole mess was never my idea, and the only character I have in it is bouncy little Boppy. This was Toz's mess from the beginning, but he apparently wants nothing to do with it. Just because I'm the only writer actually trying (and usually failing) to move the plot forward doesn't make it my sole responibility. And why, in the name of all that is holy, would anyone be following my lead?

I DON'T HAVE A LEAD!!!

I haven't had a clue what to do with this story from the very beginning. I've been following everyone else's lead, but as no one seems to be leading much, I've been trying to nudge things from time to time. That's all! This not my story. If it was, it would look a lot different. I would never have written a semi-Roman civilization on the side, the eruption of Pompeii tied in with a future tense 'moral of the story,' the addition of a mermaid, fairies, or nymphs, a merchant caravan, Vikings building a longboat and digging it out to sea, a werewolf cult, or a storm. No major element in this story was my doing, and I actually tried to write myself out of it once, but like most of the things I've tried, it didn't work. The only thing I added was having Boppy sniff out the cult's lair which was just another attempt at a nudge, and I tried to put the hotel back which was yet another failure to move things forward. I was just about drafted into this story, so it's not fair to abandon me now to the lead position.

My only character in Now Here can do two things well: bounce around and sniff things out. He did both in my last post and they didn't work, so yes, I'm plum out of ideas. I've tried using Tully, Duke, and Dorian (most of whom I know next to nothing about) to move things forward as well, but that hasn't worked either, and most of them are otherwise occupied. This is why I'm asking you guys to come up with some brilliant ideas because they are bound to be better than my "well, this is better than standing around for another month" ideas.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a four page paper to write in a few hours, and I get to study for finals after that. I'll check back in next week to see if the story has gotten anywhere without my nudging (which it really hasn't much), and I'll attempt to nudge things forward again, but that does not and will not make it my story or my sole responsibility. To be clear, I'm not angry, but I don't appreciate having the whole thing laid at my feet.

Hello old timer, Mr D. Did not want you to go unacknowledged. i don't participate in this story or this behind the scenes thread. Pretty sure it is an OffTopicYetOnTopic one. But anyway. Hello and Cheers!

Well, I haven't so much been driven off as have had no clue what to contribute for some time. I apologize for not being visible and whatever factor that lent to the current situation, but be it a fault or not, I'm a strictly linear thinker, and when a plot is rendered bereft of continuity, I have no idea what to do with it. That situation has not been resolved. Both this attempt now by Zander and the previous attempt by Jahura to wash your hands of the situation and walk away do not solve anything. What happened? Where are we? Is the hotel back home for good or not? Is the group still lost in Now Here or were they "poofed" back to the A&C? Do we still have to worry about the lycan-fae war? What was up with the whole suburbanite werewolf thing? Some answers would be good before the two of you storm off and abandon the mess you created in someone else's lap.

As far as I'm concerned, the hotel is back where it belongs, and everyone who was stranded anywhere has been returned to it if they so wish. If they want to write their own way back from where they last wrote themselves, then that would be preferable, but my intent was to get Marae and the others back to the hotel and home.

The lycan-fae war is something I should never have meddled with. I tried not to, but couldn't leave it alone, and I only made things worse because I don't have any skill in that kind of story.If anyone wants to continue with it they can, but I don't think it needs to affect the hotel. The suburbanite werewolf thing grew out of a misunderstanding, I think; Jahura was writing one kind of werewolf, I was writing another, and rather than go back and edit I "played the ball from where it lay" and messed things up even more. And my attempt to clear up the mess just made things worse, so i'm not going to try again.

Not storming. Nothing dramatic at all. Just getting out of the way, where I should have stayed.